イタリア、ルカ出身。現在トロント大学意味論・言語人類学教授。言語学習, コミュニケーション理論, 意味論関係の著作多数。著書に Vico, Metaphor and the Origin of Language (Indiana University Press), Cool: The Signs and Meanings of Adolescence (University of Toronto Press), Analyzing Cultures (Indiana University Press)（共著）, The Forms of Meaning (Mouton de Gruyter)（共著）, The Semiotics of Emoji: The Rise of Visual Language in the Age of the Internet (Bloomsbury Academic)他多数。